ARTICLES ABOUT CHRISTMAS SPIRIT BY DATE - PAGE 3

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown must be one of the few towns with a floating Christmas tree, Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II and local personality Lou Scally said Friday night during the annual City Park Lighting. The city's tree floated atop a platform anchored in the middle of the large lake in City Park. Holiday and winter-themed decorations lining the lake in City Park were also aglow Friday, including the latest addition: a train and coal car. Once again, a lighted Santa fishes on the lake near the floating Christmas tree.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. - The wreaths have been hanging in Waynesboro for days. The Chambersburg Community Theatre has nearly completed its run of "Miracle of 34th Street. " The shops of Greencastle are starting to stay open late for Heritage Christmas. Yet for Franklin County, it was not officially the holiday season until the parades came to town Saturday. Three parades in one day has been a Franklin County tradition for years, starting in Greencastle in the morning, passing through Waynesboro in the afternoon and ending in Chambersburg in the evening.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. -- The wreaths have been hanging in Waynesboro for days. The Chambersburg Community Theatre has nearly completed its run of "Miracle of 34th Street. " The shops of Greencastle are starting to stay open late for Heritage Christmas. Yet for Franklin County, it was not officially the holiday season until the parades came to town Saturday. Three parades in one day has been a Franklin County tradition for years, starting in Greencastle in the morning, passing through Waynesboro in the afternoon and ending in Chambersburg in the evening.

The scent of evergreens, the jingle of bells, the warmth of a fire, the crinkle of ribbon, the twinkle of lights ... the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas are all around us. We're busy preparing for this holiday and are quite immersed in it, so we should be quite familiar with it. But are we really? We start to sing a Christmas carol and have to hum through the third line. Mom's cookie recipe was really basic - until it was attempted from memory. We remember the Christmas stories we've heard, but sometimes the details are fuzzy.

HAGERSTOWN - Three years ago, Michelle Chavez was a single mother juggling a waitressing job with the demands of nurturing two children. Some days were a challenge, she said. But problems were never insurmountable - until she lost her job. That's when her neighbors in Hagerstown's West End came to the rescue. They offered to baby-sit while she looked for new employment and delivered home-cooked meals to her door. "They helped without my asking," Chavez said. "I don't know what I would have done without them.

HAGERSTOWN ? Three years ago, Michelle Chavez was a single mother juggling a waitressing job with the demands of nurturing two children. Some days were a challenge, she said. But problems were never insurmountable ? until she lost her job. That's when her neighbors in Hagerstown's West End came to the rescue. They offered to baby-sit while she looked for new employment and delivered home-cooked meals to her door. "They helped without my asking," Chavez said. "I don't know what I would have done without them.

This year, I'm feeling very "Bah Humbug" about the whole Christmas season. In the past, I have always been fairly excited, happy to put up decorations and to find the perfect gifts. This year, I was not even able to come up with something I wanted for Christmas. I've never understood people who could not get into the Christmas spirit. In fact, I have scorned them, certain that they were cold-hearted and bitter. Now, it seems like those Christmas cynics may have the right idea.

During the holiday season, we as radio listeners or shoppers are bombarded with Christmas songs. Some are pretty, like "Carol of the Bells. " Some are funny (can you say "The Twelve Pains of Christmas"?). But then there are those that you hear and wonder, "Why are they playing that? What does that have to do with the Christmas spirit?" I have compiled a few of these. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid. The song acknowledges impoverished people in other countries - but when you stop and think about it, if you were poor, starving and most likely in a non-Christian country, would you know it was Christmas - or really care?

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - For Roberta Cucuzzella, the Christmas concert at O'Hurley's General Store Sunday was just another reaffirmation of the good life in Shepherdstown. Cucuzzella said she moved to the area about three years ago and has found the town to be a welcome respite from her daily routine. Cucuzzella is a doctor at a children's hospital in Washington, D.C., and commutes to her job about twice a week. Or in other words, Cucuzzella said she commutes "just enough to make you want to come back home.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.VA. For Roberta Cucuzzella, the Christmas concert at O'Hurley's General Store Sunday was just another reaffirmation of the good life in Shepherdstown. Cucuzzella said she moved to the area about three years ago and has found the town to be a welcome respite from her daily routine. Cucuzzella is a doctor at a children's hospital in Washington, D.C., and commutes to her job about twice a week. Or in other words, Cucuzzella said she commutes "just enough to make you want to come back home.